Building Name (Common)

Pumpkin Hill Farm: Part 1 of 3

Address

430 Pumpkin Hill Road
Ashford

Typology

• New England

 

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a 1 ½ story gable-entry barn with a shed-roofed addition off of the east eave-facade. The main facade faces south with its ridge line running north-south parallel to Pumpkin Hill Road. The main entrance, on the south gable-facade, is a pair of double-height sliding doors mounted on an interior track. Each door has what appear to be fixed ten-paned windows or transom lights with trim on the top portion, with X-braces beneath. To the left of the door on the west corner is a pass-through door with trim and a six-pane hopper window with trim above. To the right of the main entry on the east corner, opposite the afore mentioned window, is a second six-pane hopper window with trim. The west eave-side of the barn has three evenly spaced three-pane hopper windows with trim just beneath the eave. The north gable-end of the barn is blank. The addition on the east eave-side of the barn encompasses its entire length. The sides of the addition are flush with the gable-ends of the barn. The barn has vertical siding painted red with white trim. The roof is covered with asphalt shingles.

Historical significance:

The New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side-entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it.